


Watch for the Bite

by katehathaway



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam Parrish Likes Ronan Lynch, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, POV Ronan Lynch, Ronan Lynch Loves Adam Parrish, Ronan Lynch Loves Adam Parrish's Hands, Ronan Lynch Swears, Ronan Lynch is Bad at Feelings, Ronan Lynch's Hand Kink, Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish Fluff, Ronan Teaches Adam How to Drive Stick Shift
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:34:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25267678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katehathaway/pseuds/katehathaway
Summary: Adam stared intently at the gear shift, then stretched his palm over it.Ronan forgot how to breathe.Then, Adam looked up at him, arching a dusty eyebrow questioningly.“What now, Lynch?”“Now,” he replied slowly, carefully maintaining the pitch of his voice, “you don’t fuck up my gear shift, Parrish.” Adam stared at him, and Ronan exhaled, nodding to his feet. “You know what to do, so come on. We don’t have all day.”
Relationships: Ronan Lynch & Adam Parrish, Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Comments: 7
Kudos: 235





	Watch for the Bite

Ahead, the streetlight changed from green to yellow. Ronan didn’t let off the gas. A second later, he flew through the lonely street, music blasting through the speakers so vehemently the car vibrated intensely to the rhythm of the bass. He hung one arm out of the open window. The cool breeze from the wind whipping mercilessly against his leather bands stung but Ronan smiled. 

Soon, the fast pavement beneath the Beemer’s tires gave way to dry dirt and Ronan was forced to slow to a crawling speed. His glare, heightened by the sun in his eyes, met several nosy neighbours before he pulled into the familiar drive. 

Ronan hated it.

 _Him_ , however, he did not hate.

Not at all.

The _him_ in question did not lift his dusty head of curls from under the hood of a scrap of metal. Ronan refused to call it a car, even in his thoughts. 

Adam continued tinkering with something, and Ronan paused with his palm over the horn when Adam pulled away for a moment to wipe a greasy hand across his cheek, leaving a smear of black. Ronan blinked. The driver door was open, and he was stepping out before he knew what his body was doing. He had half a mind to leave it and stalk quietly up to Adam, but then he thought better of it.

He wanted Adam to watch him walk towards him.

He wanted Adam to watch him.

Ronan slammed the door shut so loudly Adam jumped before looking up to see what caused it.

A slow, familiar grin played at the corners of his lips and Ronan smirked back, then grabbed the back of Adam’s neck roughly when he got closer. He pulled him closer, so that their faces were inches apart, and used his other hand to rub his thumb over his tongue first, then Adam’s cheek second.

“You’re a fucking mess, Parrish.”

Adam jerked away.

“What are you doing here?”

Adam’s eyes flickered over to the trailer briefly before meeting Ronan’s sharp gaze again. Ronan’s shoulder instinctively stiffened. If his face wasn’t already contorted with an artfully crafted look of disgust, a real one would have formed from that one, nervous glance. 

“ _We_ ,” he emphasized with a maniacal grin, slapping the back of Adam’s shoulder before pushing him toward the Beemer and away from the pathetic excuse of a car he was working on, “are going to do something more interesting today.”

“I thought Gansey was out of town this weekend?”

“He is.”

Adam sighed, glancing over his shoulder at the two piles of junk, the former being his current project and the latter being his so-called home. Ronan felt something stir in his stomach. He stilled, then pushed forcefully against Adam. 

“Come on, Parrish. Live a little. Have a little fun.”

Adam’s soft brows furrowed. “I can’t. We can’t all afford to muck around all weekend, you know.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I have to work on this car, the belt is all wrong, and don’t even get me started on the accelerator, it’s practically in bits–”

“What we’re doing _is_ car stuff, so that counts for something, doesn’t it?”

Adam’s eyes narrowed, regarding Ronan warily.

“What kind of car stuff, Lynch?”

Ronan shrugged; he momentarily panicked. The thing is – the thing _is_ – Ronan had not thought of anything for them to do. All he knew was Gansey was out of town, Noah was nowhere to be found, and he wanted to spend time with Adam. Fuck.

His eye caught on his car over Adam’s expectant expression, his mouth curving down infinitesimally, and he reluctantly nodded toward the Beemer.

“Well, Parrish, it was going to be a fucking surprise, but, as always, you managed to fuck that up.” Ronan pushed Adam toward the passenger door then crossed over to the driver’s side the minute Adam’s hands closed around the handle. Still, he hadn’t opened the door. Ronan inhaled through his mouth, then exhaled out of his nose. “For fuck’s sake, Parrish. I’m going to teach you how to drive a stick shift.”

At that, Adam’s eyebrows lifted considerably, and he slid into the passenger seat without another word.

Ronan prayed to God and his gears silently before settling behind the wheel and throwing the car into reverse, backing out of the dirt path at lightning speed. The farther he put himself from this hellhole the better it was for all of them. God forbid Ronan finally lost his temper around Robert Parrish. 

At Monmouth, Ronan dramatically spun the wheel and shifted to a low gear; the engine purred as the tires squealed and the car drifted into the shade of the building. Ronan smirked, glancing askance at Adam, who shook his head and got out of the car without a word. 

They traded places, and Ronan laughed inwardly as the smart look fell gracelessly off Adam’s face. 

His eyebrows furrowed minutely, and the corner of his mouth twitched. His eyes crinkled, blinking slowly at the car from the driver’s perspective, but Ronan was too preoccupied studying the small wrinkles on either side of his eyes. Those particular wrinkles only formed when Adam was unsure and only when he was comfortable enough to show his insecurity. Ronan’s chest tightened at the implication. 

Adam stared intently at the gear shift, then stretched his palm over it.

Ronan forgot how to breathe.

Then, Adam looked up at him, arching a dusty eyebrow questioningly.

“What now, Lynch?”

“Now,” he replied slowly, carefully maintaining the pitch of his voice, “you don’t fuck up my gear shift, Parrish.” Adam stared at him, and Ronan exhaled, nodding to his feet. “You know what to do, so come on. We don’t have all day.”

“I know what to do _in theory_.” Adam corrected.

“Don’t overthink it. Foot on the clutch – Now put it in gear,” Ronan said, guiding Adam as best as he could without reaching over and physically showing him. That would require Ronan placing his hand over Adam’s thigh and hand, and Ronan could not afford to do that. “Ease off the clutch – Watch for the bite. There you go.”

A small smile crept across Adam’s lips as he rolled the Beemer across the parking lot. 

“Are you going to fucking shift or do you plan on murdering my engine by revving it into next year?” Ronan mocked.

Adam hesitated another breath, then, very awkwardly and roughly, attempted to shift from first to second gear. The car shuddered and jerked. Adam had stalled. He shut his eyes and pre-emptively winced, waiting for Ronan to unleash a string of obscenities on him.

However, after noticing this, the words died on Ronan’s tongue.

He couldn’t bring himself to say them.

Instead, he checked to make sure Adam’s foot was still heavy on the clutch before reaching across to turn the ignition and wake the car up again. It roared to life, and Adam’s eyes snapped open. Ronan looked away quickly.

“Again.”

He settled into the passenger seat and rested one elbow on the open window, chewing absentmindedly at his leather bracelets while, as Adam stalled over and over, never letting his eyes off Adam’s hands. One gripped the steering wheel, knuckles flushed white against his tanned skin. The other wrapped tightly around the gear shift, veins strained and prominent against his fragile skin. There was still evidence of grease on them, and although the windows were down and strong winds coursed through the car, the scent of grease and oil was intoxicating.

Adam was intoxicating.

“Alright,” Ronan snapped. “Stop fucking around, Parrish. You know how to drive, and this isn’t really that difficult. Clutch on, gear, clutch off, gas. Rinse, repeat.” 

He watched closely as Adam started driving again. He wasn’t altogether horrible, anymore, which was… not saying much considering the car still lurched every time Adam shifted gears, and it almost always stalled between third and fourth. This time, as Ronan caught Adam’s foot easing off the clutch too quickly, he leaned across the centre console and pressed his palm firmly on Adam’s left thigh.

Adam stilled, and the car coasted for a bit, but it didn’t stall again so there was that.

Ronan, however, forgot how to breathe again.

The smell of gasoline and grease was stronger now that his face was only inches from Adam’s. He swallowed, keeping his palm flat against Adam’s thigh; even through the worn jeans, Ronan could feel Adam’s body warmth beneath his fingertips. 

“Ronan–”

“Gas.”

He didn’t move his hand.

“More gas,” he said. 

Adam obliged, and Ronan slowly lifted his pressure from Adam’s thigh, allowing the clutch to release at a more acceptable pace. The car hummed happily in the next gear, and Ronan shifted to turn the wheel, ignoring the spluttering objection from Adam.

They tore out of Monmouth’s parking lot and onto the main road through Henrietta. Ronan’s lower back ached from his current position: twisted halfway in his seat and leaning almost completely across the console. Still, he didn’t move. 

“What are you doing?” Adam asked, frantically flickering his gaze between Ronan and the road ahead. “I can’t – I can’t drive on the road yet, I’m not ready. Ronan, I don’t want to ruin your car. This car is your world, and I can’t–”

“Shut up,” he snapped. “Shut up and drive, Parrish.”

Adam shut up and drove.

Again, Ronan helped him shift into the next gear once they got up to speed; his hand didn’t leave Adam’s thigh, though, once Adam was safely speeding up the road. Ronan directed them out of the small town and up into the mountains, where there was an abundance of winding roads.

Now, Adam was forced to constantly shift between gears, and Ronan’s hand didn’t leave Adam’s thigh.

Finally, at the peak, Adam pulled over and put the car in park. He exhaled a shaky breath, but there was a hint of pride in his fleeting grin. He sank back into the driver’s seat and ran a hand through his curls. Ronan retreated to his own seat and immediately propped his elbow out of the open window; he stared off at the mountain range and valley below. When he finally looked back across at Adam, he was already watching Ronan, openly and unabashedly. 

“Well, what do you want to do now?” Adam asked.

Ronan shrugged.

“Nothing.” He unbuckled and rested one hand on the door handle. “You learned how to drive stick, and you didn’t completely ruin my gears in the process, so that’s it. As you said earlier, Parrish, you’ve got better fucking things to do with your day. Get out. I’ll drive us back.”

Adam frowned, then unbuckled and got out of the car.

When Ronan crossed to take his place, Adam stayed where he was, stood in front of the driver’s side with the edge of the door gripped in one of his hands. 

Ronan lifted a dark eyebrow.

“What?”

“We should go for a walk. While we’re up here. I mean we drove all the way. We should walk.” The words left Adam’s lips in a rush, and it took Ronan a moment to fully comprehend what he said. 

“Well, alright then. Lead the way, Parrish.” Ronan held out his hand emphatically, gesturing toward the nearest dirt path. Adam closed the car door softly, unlike Ronan’s earlier slam, and locked the car before tossing the keys to Ronan. He caught them and followed Adam down the path; they were swallowed up instantly by the dense trees sloping down the side of the peak. “You know,” Ronan said, shoving his hands in his pockets and smirking at Adam, “you could have just said you wanted to spend more time with me. There’s no need to be so coy.”

Adam rolled his eyes, “You’re so full of yourself.”

“Hey, I’m just saying, you were the one who said you had better things to do than waste the day with me.”

“It wasn’t a waste,” muttered Adam, ducking under a low branch and holding it for Ronan to pass, then letting it whip forward, barely missing his shoulder. “I learned how to drive stick,” he added, elbowing Ronan.

“Barely,” he scoffed.

Adam laughed.

It was his real, unrestricted laugh and it lit up Ronan’s whole world.

A conflicting pressure weighed on his chest; everything inside him was in turmoil. He was torn between doing everything in his power to make Adam laugh again and again, to never let that carefree, crooked smile fall from his face, and staying as far away from Adam’s happiness as possible because it was a drug and Ronan did not want to lose control.

If he lost control, then his secret would not be a secret anymore, and he didn’t think he was ready for that reality just yet.

There was also the very real possibility that Ronan would ruin it anyway, like he ruined everything.

“What are you doing?”

Adam’s voice was calm, but Ronan could tell by the flicker of light in his eyes that he was concerned. Also, that the question was rhetorical. He discarded both facts and offered a winning smile, baring his teeth and winking before taking another step toward the ledge.

He leapt.

“Ronan!”

Ronan let out a high-pitch cry of laughter, then pulled himself up onto the branch he dangled from. The treacherous slope beneath him screamed danger, but Ronan was fond of danger. After all, he’d had it under his hand half the drive up here.

“Relax, Parrish,” he teased. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“Thank you,” he replied, tipping an imaginary hat off his shaved head. 

Ronan shifted to stand on the branch, then leaned casually against the questionably strong trunk of the tree; it was easy to lean against since it, like the ledge Adam fearfully inched towards, existed at a steep angle. He focused on the rough bark cutting into his bare bicep, just below the cut of his black vest, rather than Adam’s widened eyes. 

It was easier not to fall that way.

Metaphorically and physically speaking, of course, because Ronan never did anything the easy way.

“Get down, Lynch, before you fall.”

“Aw, you sound concerned.” Ronan teased, twisting his lips into a knowing smirk.

“My _concern_ is what Declan will do to me if he finds out I let you go and get yourself killed this afternoon.” Adam huffed, indignant. Ronan rolled his eyes and peeled himself off the trunk of the tree to walk further out on the branch, testing fate. Adam’s face contorted into a deep scowl. “Fine. Don’t listen to me. When do you ever listen to anyone but yourself?”

“I listen to Gansey… sometimes,” he muttered under his breath. By then, though, Adam had already turned on his heel and stomped away from the cliff ledge. Ronan groaned inwardly. “Fucking Christ, Parrish – _Wait_ ,”

Ronan eyed the distance between the branch and the ledge and decided it wasn’t impossible. He jumped. His heart lurched. He hit the ground with a heavy thud, barely making it. Then, his foot slipped.

Adam’s hand was in his before he could blink, and he was pulling Ronan back to safety with a pained frown. He didn’t let go of Ronan’s hand right away, but when he did, Ronan felt all of the air that escaped his lungs come rushing back, nearly suffocating him with the pressure of it. He opened his mouth to say something, but Adam shook his head and turned to walk back the way they came.

The adventure was over, it seemed.

They said nothing to each other the whole drive back down the mountain and into Henrietta. Ronan drove well over the speed limit, even down the winding, small mountain roads, whipping the car this way and that around every turn. Gas pedal to the floor. 

The wind tousled Adam’s curls so much that he constantly had to push it out of his face, but Ronan didn’t think about that. When he shifted into the highest gear on the open highway, his pinky finger grazed Adam’s but Ronan didn’t think about that. The light ahead turned red and Adam’s eyes cut warning across to Ronan, but Ronan didn’t think about that.

He accelerated, focusing on the roar of the car’s engine and not the soft exhale from Adam’s lips.

In the dirt driveway of the trailer, Ronan put the car in park and let it idle. He stared straight ahead, waiting for Adam to get out. When he didn’t, Ronan inhaled sharply through his mouth and then exhaled loudly through his nose. He turned slowly to look at Adam, who was staring at his hands, balled into fists, in his lap.

“Get out.” 

Adam’s knuckles flushed as his fingers curled further into his palms.

“No.”

“For fuck’s sake, Adam, I don’t have time for this. Get out.” 

He reached across, so quickly he almost didn’t register what his body was doing before it did it, and pulled open the handle, pushing the passenger door open. Adam’s hand clasped around Ronan’s wrist, holding him in the vulnerable position for another minute before releasing him. Then, his eyes flashed angrily at Ronan.

“What?” Ronan snapped. “If you’re going to lecture me, then I don’t want to fucking hear it, alright? I have Declan for that. Get out – Leave.”

Adam’s eyes wrinkled at the corners.

“What is _wrong_ with you? Why do you do that?” Adam demanded, losing his temper. “You’re reckless and stupid and constantly putting yourself in dangerous for no good reason, and then when someone tries to give a damn about you, all you do is push them away. What the hell, dude?”

Ronan grunted.

He returned his hands to the wheel and gear shift, then stared out at the sad vehicular project across the tall, weedy grass. 

“Get. Out.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Yeah?” Ronan retorted. His head whipped around to allow him a sharp, threatening glare. “Then why the fuck are you still here?”

“Because I–” Adam cut himself off and ran a shaky hand through his disastrous, windswept hair. His gaze flickered between the trailer and Ronan’s hand on the gear shift. Finally, it settled on Ronan’s eyes with such intensity Ronan nearly had to look away; he didn’t, though, because he did not want to lose control. He didn’t think about that. “You’re an idiot,” was all Adam said.

Ronan snorted. “You already said that, genius. Anything else, or are you going to finally leave me alone?”

Adam’s fists shot out like a viper, closing around the collar of Ronan’s vest. His face was so close to Ronan’s that Ronan could make out the golden flecks in his irises and feel the warmth of his breath skirt across Ronan’s cheek.

“No one is leaving you.” Adam released him but didn’t back up. Ronan held his breath. “You’re an idiot. I’m not leaving you, alright?”

“Fine,” gritted Ronan through his teeth. “Will you at least give me some fucking space?”

Adam bit his lower lip, then he acquiesced, and Ronan cursed under his breath.

He thought about it; all of it.

He lost control.

He kissed Adam. 

Everything stopped. 

The noise of the neighbourhood kids screaming and playing, the idle rumble of the engine, and the tumultuous thoughts swirling around his head all died down in the background. White noise sang in his ears. The air itself stilled and waited, holding its breath. A quiet, blissful moment passed by and Ronan’s heart soared higher with every additional second that Adam didn’t pull away.

Ronan didn’t dare touch Adam, that would have been too much. Not for him, he wanted nothing more than to feel Adam’s stubble under his palm and trail Adam’s ribs with his other, but for Adam. Already, Ronan was counting his blessings, and he had more than enough to last a lifetime. 

Then, the unthinkable happened: Adam leaned into the kiss, pressed his palm under the edge of Ronan’s vest, and flicked his tongue across Ronan’s bottom lip.

Ronan’s brain malfunctioned.

Everything stopped.

Then, it all came back with a rushing force, nearly knocking him over. His hands tangled in Adam’s hair; Adam’s teeth grazing behind where his tongue trailed. Gasping, startled breaths filled his ears; his heartbeat pounded against his chest and heat spread throughout his body. Ronan did not want to be in control ever again.

They broke away from the kiss, blinking rapidly at one another.

Adam was the first to speak, which was just as well since Ronan forgot how to form words.

“Same time tomorrow?”

It took him a minute to gather himself enough to form a cohesive thought, and even then, it took an additional minute for Ronan to be certain his dry throat would not betray him. In the most monotonous, drawl he could muster, Ronan said, “Don’t you have something better to do?”

Adam’s gaze flickered down to Ronan’s lips before meeting his eye again; a sly grin pulled at the edge of his mouth.

“Not anymore.”


End file.
